Chapter Thirty One
“So, when you said that Wrath was hurt, like how bad?” I ask as I pick glass out of Jaak’s shoulder. He just tried to magic it out but it wouldn’t budge.
“This was arcanely done. Powerful magic if I’m not able to use mine to remove the glass. Our enemy's power grows.”
I don’t want to know what kind of magic is more powerful than Jaak’s so I’m not thinking about that. I’m picking glass out of his shoulder with the tongs and bowl the house helpfully had Charlie get from the other room.
“Pretty bad. He was,” Charlie swallows and shakes his head before he looks away and out the front window, “There was so much blood. I thought-we all thought he wasn’t going to make it at first but he’s okay now.
Sunday helped patch him up, even though she’s pretty banged up too. Elijah is nursing them back to health.”
My heart squeezes. I can’t imagine what the scene looked like. What Wrath looked like to Buffy. I look at Jaak’s bloody back and I feel sick. This is bad enough. What is Buffy going through right now?
“How’s Buffy?”
“On a rampage. You know the Harbinger.”
I smile and nod. “I do. Is she on the way? I wish I was there with her. I know she’s torn up about Wrath. Anyone would be.”
“She is. She blames herself for trusting Roy and the others, and to answer your question, no, she won’t be coming. I came on my own. Buffy went after the traitors and I personally hope she tears them limb from limb. She was dealing with them in town, so I decided to handle this.”
“Charlie, that's dangerous. You can’t be out here on your own. Anything could have happened to you in those woods with your demon twig.”
“It’s Demon on a Stick, thank you very much and you really gotta believe in me more, Meadow. I can hold my own and right now we’re spread thin, so a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”
“What about your mind? Any episodes?”
He shakes his head. “No, I’m good. I felt a little lightheaded the second we got through the trees and into the front yard. Figured that was a good sign the book was near.”
I nod and drop another piece of glass into the bowl at my feet. “It’s in the basement. We hid it there and Jaak has been laying wards so I think it’s safe for now.”
“I’ll have to strengthen the wards before we go to meet the mage for our final battle.”
Charlie pales and looks between me and Jaak. “Wow, wait a minute. Final battle. I just got here. What do you mean, final battle?”
“What happened to a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do?” I ask him.
“That was before I knew we were at the final boss of the campaign. My nervous system really can’t handle all of this.”
I look at Charlie to try and reassure him that yes, it’s final battle time if that explosion was anything to go by and that our first stop was going to be the Chamber of Commerce, but it’s in the looking at him that my finger slips and I cut myself on a piece of glass.
“Mulberries,” I whisper, jerking my hand back.
“What happened?” Jaak grabs my hand and brings it in front of him to look. “Oh no, I do not like this, my heart.”
“It’s just a cut. I’m fine. You’re the one that I need to focus on, you're actually hurt.”
“A single cut on you is one too many. I cannot have this.” Jaak presses his hand over my finger and just like that the cut heals. He brings my hand close to his face to look at it before he gives a satisfactory nod and presses a kiss to it. “Perfect.”
“You’re both so sickeningly sweet and perfect together that I am very aware you’re the product of demonic magic. That’s the only way this is possible.”
I grin and nod. “We are.”
“All marriages should begin with demonic magic to ensure happiness,” Jaak tells Charlie.
“Duly noted,” Charlie says. “So, who are we fighting?”
“The Chamber of Commerce,” I tell Charlie.
He makes a face. “Do we owe delinquent membership fees orrr?”
I roll my eyes. “No, nothing as evil as that. The Chamber of Commerce here is a front. There’s something going on with all the business owners in town. They’re all in on it. They were the mages that summoned Jaak. We’re trying to find the head mage now before they end the world.”
Charlie closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I wish I could say that I’m surprised any of that came out of your mouth, but I’m not.” He opens his eyes and nods. “Fine, let’s fight capitalism for the good of mankind.”
“That’s the spirit. You have a warrior’s heart,” Jaak tells him.
Charlie sits up straighter and nods. “Thank you. It’s about time someone sees it. I’ve been putting in the hours.”
“I see it, Gamemaster. Today we will take to the field of battle. I thought we had more time but no, the mage’s attack was to mark us. Any non-magical beings would not have been affected by that blast.”
“Wait, what?” I put my tongs down. I have an idea about Jaak’s glass. I can’t take picking it out piece by piece. Magic is the only way I’m going to get this done.
Jaak shifts forward in his seat and looks up at me. “The blast was meant for us. I’ve thought about why and what it might be and such a tactic, though crude, is useful when marking specific targets.”
“So you’re saying no one else will know about the blast?”
“Oh no, the physical effects of the blast will be apparent to everyone close by. Some humans were probably injured gravely by it if they were close enough but this,” he points at his back, “the fact that I cannot use my magic to remove the glass or heal would mark me and you for the head mage to see. They intend to identify us by our wounds. I’ve seen this tactic before. ”
“Are you saying you aren’t going to heal after this?”
“I’m not sure. I may, but it will be slow. The only way to tell is to finish removing the glass.”
“Right. Okay.” Anger burns bright in me when I look down at Jaak’s back.
All the result of some idiot head mage with delusions of grandeur.
Who wants to destroy the world? What kind of nut job do you have to be to think that’s productive in any way?
What’s in it for this mage? Bragging rights?
Who is that idiot going to tell if there’s no world left?
“Uh, Meadow?”
“What?” I snap, looking at Charlie.
“Your hands are glowing.”
I look down and see he’s right. Magic is there and a lot of it. It’s not like before when it was liquid and hard for me to make sense of. It’s light and airy. I move my hand and it follows it. I don’t have to fight to hold it or control it now.
“What the hell were you thinking about?” Charlie asks.
“Vengeance,” I say and then put a light hand on Jaak’s shoulder. “I’m going to try something, okay?”
“Understood.” He nods and puts his hand over mine. “Do as you please, my heart.”
I close my eyes and focus on the magic. It’s here and it’s real.
When I flex my fingers I can almost feel it go solid.
“Please work,” I whisper and start to direct the magic to the glass in Jaak’s back.
I think about the glass vanishing. All of it leaving Jaak and turning into dust. Nothing that could ever harm us.
There’s a pull and then a snap, like when you break a stick in your hands and I know it worked before I even open my eyes.
I laugh when I see the wounds in Jaak’s back are glassless. The pieces float by us and just like I imagined, they melt away to dust that blows away and scatters.
Charlie jumps up from his seat. “You did it! Total BWIT.”
“And I’m not done. Someone wants to mark my husband?
Hurt him and try to end the world? No way, pick a lane, buddy.
” I put my hands over Jaak’s back and again direct the magic there.
I see his back the way it was. Strong and whole, muscles perfect and moving together like art because that’s the way I see Jaak.
There’s a flash and then his flesh knits itself back together into one piece.
There’s no blood, not even a scratch to let on that his back was ever damaged in the first place.
I press a hand to his skin and smile. “Perfect.”
Charlie claps. “Badass.”
Jaak raises his arms and then stretches before he gets out of his seat and turns to me. “You blessed me once again, my heart. Thank you.” He sweeps me up into a kiss that has me breathless and clinging to him when we break apart.
“I love you,” I tell him softly.
Jaak smiles and brushes my hair away from my face. He traces my bottom lip with his thumb.
“And I love you, Meadow.”